´óÏó´«Ã½

When talking about what you wear in Mandarin, there are two phrases that can be used:

• ÎÒ´© W¨¯ chu¨¡n - I am wearing, for clothes

• ÎÒ´÷ W¨¯ d¨¤i - I am wearing, for accessories

Did you know?

To say ¡®I wear a jumper¡¯ you would not simply say ÎÒ´©Ã«Ò W¨¯ chu¨¡n m¨¢o y¨© - you have missed out the Mandarin equivalent of ¡®a¡¯.

In Mandarin, measure words (often called ¡®classifiers¡¯) are used to classify the type of object being discussed.

So, to say ¡®I wear a jumper¡¯ in Mandarin, you would say ÎÒ´©Ò»¼þëÒ W¨¯ chu¨¡n y¨© ji¨¤n m¨¢o y¨©.

Did you know?

As with clothing, measure words are used for accessories.

Some are the same as for clothing, but there are additional ones too.

As with clothing, to say ¡®I wear glasses¡¯ you would need to include the measure word for 'a pair of':

ÎÒ´÷Ò»¸±ÑÛ¾µ W¨¯ d¨¤i y¨ª f¨´ y¨£n j¨¬ng - I wear [a pair of] glasses

Now you've learnt how to talk about clothing in Mandarin, let's put it into a conversation!

(Finlay and Evie are talking to a stallholder who is selling clothes)

Finlay: (pointing) ¿´£¬À¶É«µÄ´óÒÂ.

K¨¤n, l¨¢n s¨¨ de d¨¤y¨©.

Look, blue coats.

Evie: ºÚÉ«µÄ¿ã×Ó.

H¨¥i s¨¨ de k¨´zi.

Black trousers.

Finlay: »ÆÉ«µÄÍà×Ó.

Hu¨¢ng s¨¨ de w¨¤zi.

Yellow socks.

Evie: (to stallholder) ÇëÎÊÕâÊÇʲô?

Q¨«ngw¨¨n, zh¨¨ sh¨¬ sh¨¦nme?

Excuse me, what¡¯s this?

Stallholder: ÕâÊǺìÉ«µÄ³ÄÉÀ.

Zh¨¨ sh¨¬ h¨®ng s¨¨ de ch¨¨nsh¨¡n.

This is a red shirt.

Finlay: ÎÒϲ»¶ºìÉ«µÄ³ÄÉÀ.

W¨¯ x¨«hu¨¡n h¨®ng s¨¨ de ch¨¨nsh¨¡n.

I like red shirts.

Stallholder: (to Evie) Äãϲ»¶ºìÉ«µÄ³ÄÉÀÂð?

N¨« x¨«hu¨¡n h¨®ng s¨¨ de ch¨¨nsh¨¡n ma£¿

Do you like red shirts?

Evie: (pointing to a green shirt) ÎÒ²»Ï²»¶ºìÉ«µÄ³ÄÉÀ£¬ ÎÒϲ»¶ÂÌÉ«µÄ³ÄÉÀ.

W¨¯ b¨´ x¨«hu¨¡n h¨®ng s¨¨ de ch¨¨nsh¨¡n, w¨¯ x¨«hu¨¡n l¨¸ s¨¨ de ch¨¨nsh¨¡n.

I don¡¯t like red shirts, I like green shirts.

Take your learning further

Learn how to describe the colour of clothes using our guide Mandarin: Colours.